Hard-working baker still found time for family
Gebhard "Geb" Lanz Jr. found his livelihood and his wife in bakeries.
Working as a helper in a bakery eventually led to Mr. Lanz owning two bakeries. In 1941, he bought a West End bakery from William Greb and renamed it Lanz Bakery, which he owned for 27 years. It was there that he met his wife of 62 years, the former Rita Tondolo, who was working there as a clerk.
Mr. Lanz, of Monroeville and formerly of Carrick, died Sunday, Oct. 23, 2005, at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville. He was 89.
Born in Neukirk, Germany, in 1916, Mr. Lanz came to America with his family when he was 11 in search of a better life. His family, including his parents, brother and four sisters, settled in Carrick.
In addition to the West End bakery, Mr. Lanz also owned Greb's Bakery on the South Side, which he opened in 1968.
His son, Cyril Lanz, 62, of Baldwin Borough, has been running that bakery since 1981, when Mr. Lanz retired.
Cyril Lanz's wife, Vanessa, said her father-in-law's bakeries were known for their wedding cakes, pound cakes, pies, cookies and Easter paska.
Cyril Lanz, one of seven children, said his father worked 12- to 16-hour days but closed the bakeries on Sundays. Even during his retirement, he came in to help on holidays.
"He was a great dad. He had a great work ethic, and he treated us really well. He took us fishing, and he also took us hunting. He took time to do these things. He always took us on some sort of vacation, even if he couldn't be there all the time," Cyril Lanz said.
When Mr. Lanz was given a choice of being a rifleman or a baker in the Army, he chose baker. He served in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, where he baked for the officers during World War II.
Cyril Lanz was born while he father was overseas in the service.
He was 2 years old when he first saw his father. Others have told him what that first meeting was like.
"They say I cried when I saw this perfect stranger coming up to my mother," Cyril Lanz said.
In his retirement, Mr. Lanz enjoyed fishing and spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His wife died in November 2003, and Mr. Lanz last lived at Sunrise Assisted Living in Monroeville.
"He provided for the whole family. He was very giving. He treated us all with respect, yet with authority, and we respected him. He was a very kind man," Cyril Lanz said.
Mr. Lanz is survived by four sons, Cyril Lanz and his wife, Vanessa, Robert Lanz and his wife, Cindy, Richard Lanz and his wife, Karen, and Gary Lanz and his wife, Sue; three daughters, Rita M. Pirone and her husband, Tony, Betsy Osborn and her husband, Skip, and Shelly Borowski, and her husband, Ed; a sister, Hedwig Maloni; 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Rita Lanz, and four siblings, Adelheide Bolz, Maria Scurich, Anna Lanz and Gottfried Lanz.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the John F. Slater Funeral Home, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood. A funeral prayer will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 4048 Brownsville Road, Brentwood. Burial will be in Loretto Cemetery, off Devlin Street in Arlington.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Arthritis Foundation, 332 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15222, or the American Heart Association, 10 Duff Road, Suite 304, Pittsburgh, PA, 15235.
